Frustration of Thunk
by SkyChasingDreamer
Summary: Jean kept chopping and stacking, the pile growing higher one piece at a time. The sun and sweat made Jean's skin shine and Eren loathed that. He had a special and particular hate for the hair sticking itself to Jean's forehead, matted down with wetness that darkened the sandy brown color.


**Title**: Frustration of Thunk

**Pairing**: EreJean

**Rating**: T

**For**: Trade with the wonderful Silvia – link in my profile to her art half!

**Disclaimer**: No

**Frustration of Thunk**

Eren wasn't going to look up, he just wasn't going to do it, he refused. He kept his eyes on the potato in his hand and ignored the _thunk... _pause... _thunk_... pause... _thunk_... noise in the background. He rolled the potato in his hand and continued to peel it bit by bit while trying to avoid his skin. It wouldn't matter if he cut himself, he healed quick enough, but then he'd have to throw out the potato if he got blood on it and that'd be a waste of food and Levi would punish him in some way. He might even deny Eren the right to eat any potatoes at all if he wasted so much as one of them, no doubt he'd look through the trash to check.

He didn't know why he'd even gotten stuck with this duty, he'd managed to stay out of trouble for _days, _completely shattering his old record of just a few hours at a time. He hadn't gotten angry and lost control of himself, he hadn't broken anything, he'd been _good_. So, why was he being punished with potato duty when he should be out training or learning new combat skills, he couldn't learn anything from peeling potatoes. Except, maybe, he could relearn that it did still hurt when he nicked himself, but pain was no stranger to him. He was going to be a lot less inclined to behave if he knew shit like this was going to be his lame reward.

_Thunk_.

Okay, literally, that noise didn't need to exist anymore, it could go away and cease altogether. It wasn't so much that it was annoying, Eren just knew where the noise was coming from and what it was, so that was why it needed to stop. It tempted him to look up and he couldn't afford that, he really couldn't deal with the distraction. He couldn't be slow at his work, Levi expected everything done in a timely manner and Eren would rue this day if he didn't succeed.

Potatoes.

It was _all _about the potatoes, nothing else mattered or existed.

_Thunk_.

Well, okay, other things existed, but, again, none of them mattered. He finished a potato and took up another one, this one oddly shaped, so he knew he had to be careful. He began peeling and despite hating this job, it was kind of satisfying to see and hear the peels falling into the bucket at his feet. They couldn't go into the sink or they'd clog up the drain and the bucket was too big to fit in the sink anyway, so he had to aim just right to keep the floor clean. Always clean, everything had to be as clean as possible _or else –_ even then, Eren could feel the phantom touch of cold steel against his jugular and a chill went up his spine.

_Thunk_.

Gritting his teeth, Eren accidentally glanced up through the window just in time to see Jean pause to wipe sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. Eren's grip on the slippery potato tightened so much that the pressure torpedoed it out of his fingers and smashed into the wall to his right. His whole body jerked and he ran over to salvage what he could of the spud, all it needed was a rinse, right? There was a spot on the wall where it had struck and thankfully, only a small piece had chipped off the potato and Eren counted that as still edible.

Taking it back to the sink, he thoroughly washed it off and cut off the part that had hit the wall just in case. The rest of it seemed fine, so he finished skinning it and gave it one last thorough rinse before putting it in the finished bucket. He eyed the skid on the wall a long moment before taking a rag over and cleaning it off. With his luck, Levi would notice it and wonder how the hell part of a potato got stuck to the wall a good meter from the sink basin.

_Thunk_.

Were there earplugs around somewhere? Or some kind of cotton he could stuff into his ears to drown that godforsaken noise out?

_Thunk_.

Fuck, no, he wasn't going to look over again. It was dumb luck he hadn't sliced a finger off yet and he couldn't risk hurting himself like that, regardless of whether he could regenerate or not. It didn't exactly feel _good_ to bite himself hard enough to draw blood, not many understood how difficult that was, he could admit he was fucked up, but he didn't always enjoy doing such fucked up shit. He peeled faster and his brows furrowed in frustration, it was so bad that his whole face was scrunched up.

_Thunk_.

Bathroom break!

He could take a really quick pause and just call it his bathroom break as justification! He could go there and hide for a bit, throw some water in his face, pace a little, take a breather, it would give him the break he needed! The goddamn thunking wasn't conducive to potato peeling and Eren had a feeling in his gut telling him that if he looked up, his task and the prospect of finishing all the potatoes would be lost.

_Thunk_.

His hands shook, the potato in his palm crumbled and broke in half – he looked up.

Jean mopped his brow with the back of his hand and to Eren's sheer horror, the bastard grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up to put it to good use. Eren stood frozen with the knife in one hand a broken potato in the other, his twitching fingers the only sign of life. Jean was walking around gathering up smaller sticks and bundling them up before throwing them onto the pile of chopped logs. His green shirt was a little too big for him, but when he pulled it up again, Eren got a better, fuller, view of his stomach and instead of sending the potato flying, he dug his nails into it.

Slowly, Jean worked his shirt off and tossed it aside, the action ruffling up his hair. He looked disgruntled and midly pissed off, but that was how he usually looked – as well as stupid. The metal clasp of his belt glinted in the sunlight, momentarily attracting Eren's attention, and that was a _bad _thing. He was definitely _not _looking at Jean Kirschtein's dick, there was no fucking way he'd ever do that!

Except... he'd done it before. He'd had this stupid fucking interest in the guy for _weeks_. He couldn't recall when exactly it had started, but once it had taken hold of him, he couldn't get away from it. It was like once it had begun, there was no stopping it and he hated that he couldn't even stand being in the same room as Jean for too long for reasons other than hating him. Seriously, Eren had to leave meals early more often than not if Jean ate at the same time he did. It was pathetic, he knew it was, but it would be a lot worse if Eren stayed and then _couldn't _leave because a certain problem in his pants made itself too apparent.

Jean's stomach muscles bunched as he bent to pick up more sticks and he grabbed his next log, too. Eren watched him walk around, he was doing such simple things, but Eren was fully attentive. Jean's shoulder blades were smooth curves along his back leading down to a tapered and trim waist while his shoulders themselves were broad. His biceps flexed with each movement and he made lining up thick logs look like an easy task. Eren could just imagine the way he grunted when he picked up the heavier ones or how he might smell with it being so warm out that he'd built up a sweat.

He'd had dreams about things just like this before and imagined scenarios just like this one, he longed for it. Admitting that took a lot out of him, but he couldn't escape himself or his thoughts. He'd spent a majority of his time trying to get himself back on track and convince himself that there was nothing wrong with him, that it would all pass. It hadn't passed yet and it was to the point where he knew it wouldn't – he didn't know how to get rid of something as deplorable as _attraction_.

Outside, Jean put a log onto the stump he was using as the base and picked up the ax that was on the ground. He twirled the ax between his hands, then took aim, raised the ax above his head, his whole back rippling, then struck down in one fluid motion.

_Thunk_.

The piece of wood split in two and Jean picked the halves up to put them on the pile. He had a lot of logs to go still, from what Eren could figure he was put out there because the weather was getting colder and they'd need all the firewood they could get when the time came. The belt Jean was wearing wasn't doing too much good because his pants were slipping a little and Eren felt a tingle go down his spine.

Angry, he brought the potato down toward the sink, tearing his gaze away from Jean and his stupid body, and started peeling it again, ignoring the little holes he'd left behind from his fingers. He just needed to do his job, his assignment, his punishment, whatever the fuck this was, and everything was going to be fine. He just couldn't look up again, the potatoes were now his world and nothing outside of his world could distract him. He could shift into a goddamn Titan, he wouldn't let this one little thing get him down!

_Thunk_.

His stomach sank.

He could give himself all the mental encouragment he wanted, but none of it would make his very obvious boner go away. He'd tried to ignore it while watching Jean, but even when he wasn't looking the problem was persisting. Had he mentioned that he was pathetic? Because he was, he really, really was.

Sighing in frustration, Eren pressed his hips against the counter and the pressure was so good he closed his eyes for a quick second to relish it. When he opened them again, his eyes were fixed on Jean and he wasn't going to be looking away. He knew he _should_, but he physically couldn't bring himeslf to. Where did his mental willpower go when it came to this horse faced loser?

Jean picked up a new log and set it on the stump before raising the ax, muscles bunching and growing taut, and – _thunk_. The wood split in half and Eren lightly ground himself against the counter. The halves were big enough that Jean stood them up one by one to cut them into quarters before tossing them onto the pile. Jean had good aim, that might be a reason why he was still alive and Eren liked to chalk this desperate attraction up to not knowing how much longer he had. That didn't explain why Jean had to be the person he lusted after, but it was possible his body was just confused, especially considered the whole shapeshifting thing.

Picking up a new potato, Eren started peeling once more, aware of the consequences should he stop. Levi would be disgusted if he ever found out just how much of a punishment this actually was and for what reasons. Couldn't he be put somewhere else with a different view? Did he _really _have to stand and be placed right behind the window like this?

_Thunk_.

Eren jolted, but thankfully didn't catch his skin with the part of the razor agian. He hissed regardless and took a moment to collect himself. His eyes kept flicking up, he couldn't look away, he couldn't stop peeling lest he wanted to get his ass kicked, this really just was not a good situation. He almost craved being out on a scout if it could just get him away from this madness.

Jean kept chopping and stacking, the pile growing higther one piece at a time. The sun and sweat made Jean's skin shine and Eren loathed that. He had a special and particular hate for the hair sticking itself to Jean's forehead, matted down with wetness that darkened the sandy brown color. Eren glared at Jean's muscles and most _especially_ the little divots on either side of his lower back. He kept his hips against the counter and tried not to move too much. He fell into a rhythm where he'd peel for a little bit, then reward himself by looking up and slowing his peeling to allow a good look at what was on display for him.

He peeled, looked up.

Peeled.

Looked up.

Peeled.

Loo – oh, god, where did he go?

Eren's eyes looked all over, but Jean wasn't in sight anymore and the ax was leaned against the stump. There was a log on top of the stump, ready to be chopped, but of Jean, there was no sign.

Well, not until the door opened and Eren sliced off a huge chunk of the potato when he jumped.

"Oh... didn't know you were in here," Jean said, a hand brushing his hair back and off his forehead.

Eren glared over his shoulder. "Now you do."

"Uh." Jean shifted and awkwardly found a glass. "Move it, Jaeger, I'm thirsty."

No way in hell was Eren going to step away from the counter. Instead, he slid to the right to make room and bit his tongue when Jean stepped up beside him. He reeked like the outdoors, of leaves and musk and the earthy tones of bark. Eren subtly inhaled and made sure to keep his crotch firm against the counter. Jean got his water and Eren stared at his Adam's apple as he gulped his drink down. Beads of sweat slid along his temple and neck and there were splots of perspiration that were shiny and slick. Eren's blood was boiling and he had to grip the edge of the counter with both hands, nostrils flaring, to keep himself under control.

"Woah! Jaeger! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Eren blinked and shoved himself harder to the counter just in case. "H-huh?"

"Your face," Jean pointed to his own face in a useless demonstration, "it's all red. Like, angry red," his own face was getting red in the cheeks, "you about to go Titan or... or what?"

"Shut up, I'm fine!"

"You don't look fine!"

"Mind your own damn business, Kirscthein! I said I'm fine!" He picked up a new potato because he'd dropped or crushed the other one and gave himself something to do with it. "It's just, you know, warm."

"Yeah..." Jean's shoulders sagged and he went to refill his glass since it was done, "I'm not even halfway done."

Eren groaned.

It just slipped out of him and he rubbed his face with both hands, once again, he didn't know what happened to the potato he'd had. How could he not be halfway done yet? He'd been at it for hours, what twisted will of fate was it that Eren had to endure this for hours more?

"Uh... Jaeger?"

Eren lowered his hands. "What?"

Jean was staring straight ahead out the window, his face redder than before. His eyes flicked toward Eren, but _down_, down to where Eren was fitted to the counter.

"I have potatoes to peel!" Eren blurted and picked one up to start doing just that.

Jean shuffled and the glass slipped from his fingers. He caught it, but the water spilled everwhere and the glass just ended up slipping from Jean's hand again to clatter loudly into the sink. The thing broke into a bunch of piece, but luckily, it didn't totally shatter. It did, however, succeed in making everything terribly uncomfortable between them as Jean scrambled to clean up the mess since not all the water had landed in the sink.

"Leave it," Eren said, reaching for a towel.

"I – n-no -"

"Go!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Kirscthein, you ass! You're making things worse!"

Jean gargled and kept mopping up the water with what he could find while Eren started picking up the pieces of glass. All the potato peels were going to be used as compost later, so Eren set the shards as far as he could reach without moving on the other side of the sink. He cut his left pinky pretty bad, but the pain didn't make him pause or stop, he just kind of... ignored it. He was so used to pain, what was one cut on his pinky? He'd just run it under some water and leave it until it healed itself, then get back to his potatoes.

"Oi! What the hell are you doing?" Jean grabbed Eren's wrist and yanked it forward to get it under the spigot. "You're a goddamn moron!"

Eren didn't say anything, he couldn't, he just let Jean wash off and dry his cut, then slap a bandaid on it. When he'd pulled out the bandaid, Eren had shot him a curious look, but Jean just shrugged and said he'd been expecting a lot of blisters throughout the day.

"Done."

"I could have done that myself."

"You could have, but you wouldn't have."

"You know it's just going to heal in a few minutes."

"Ah..." Jean floundered. "So what? Now it's protected until it does!" He nodded, more to himself than Eren, it seemed, then went back to his awkward shuffling. "I need to – I should go. Who knows what'll become of me if I don't finish before the day is out."

"Same here," Eren mumbled and pointed with his thumb over to the couple sacks of potatoes he still had to go.

Jean snorted and went back to the door while Eren remained pressed for his dear pathetic life against the counter. There was no way Jean could have seen anything he shouldn't have, which meant... what did that mean? Fuck, he didn't want to know, that would only complicate things. Eren picked up one of his half-finished potatoes and began peeling, but the second he heard the first _thunk_, he was looking up.

Jean was back to chopping and... there was no mistaking the bulge in Jean's pants.

He tried not to look directly at it, but he couldn't resist the temptation and eventually just stopped trying to peel potatoes anymore. He put his arms on the counter and rested his chin on them so he could stare outside. Jean kept chopping wood, but he glanced back from time to time and paused more – his pile wasn't growing as fast as it was before. Eren's pinky didn't sting anymore, but he wasn't going to remove the bandaid, that would mean taking time to look away and just... no.

Eren didn't think Jean was attracted to him or anything, the guy didn't have a boner, Eren was just admiring the view. It wasn't often he could stare uninterrupted like this and who was he to turn down such an opportunity? Who knew when next he'd be able to ogle without reprimand or worry of someone seeing him? So, he watched Jean work, watched his muscles move under his skin, watched the sweat build up again all over his body. It was taking so much out of Eren not to rock himself against the counter, he wanted to so, so bad just for a little relief. Jean's bangs fell back down into his face and stuck there, not moving even when he tossed his head to dislodge them.

Suddenly, Jean stopped with the ax between both hands and a log ready and waiting on the stump. He went to lift his arms up, but didn't follow through with the motion each time he started. His jaw was working, making the muscles twitch, and he was glaring at everything he looked at. Eren didn't know what he was doing and his heart damn near stopped when Jean dropped the ax to the ground and spun around. He was headed straight back to the kitchen and Eren panicked, though, he knew he couldn't leave, there was nowhere to run! Grabbing a potato and the knife, Eren started to peel again just to make it look like he had something to do.

The door burst open and Jean slammed it shut after him. "What the fuck is your _problem_?"

"What do you mean?" Eren yelled back, not needing to feign his surprise and confusion. "I'm just peeling potatoes!"

"Like hell you are!" Jean came over and grabbed onto Eren's shoulder to try and turn him around, but Eren didn't budge. He'd dropped the potato and knife yet _again_ and clung to the counter so hard his fingers ached. "Goddamn it! Let go of the counter, Jaeger!"

"No!"

"Let go!"

"_No!_"

"Why're you so goddamn stupid?"

"Why're _you_?"

With a yell that resembled no word or phrase, Jean pulled harder and Eren's wet fingers finally slipped. The bucket of peels got kicked in the skirmish and the pieces ended up getting all over their shoes, but Eren couldn't give a fuck, not when a hot mouth was against his own. His hips were being grabbed at, the counter had been replaced by Jean's firm front, and there was _finally_ some solid friction against his cock. Eren grasped at him and didn't want to want it, but he was currently rendered hopeless.

Kissing was awkward, Jean's hands were everywhere, and Eren was still two steps behind. Just touching Jean's broad slick chest had his mind empty itself out like an automatic purge. He let Jean push him up against he counter and couldn't keep his noises under control at all as a loud gasp escaped when fingers slipped under his shirt to touch skin. He didn't expect himself to react so much to the feel of Jean's rough fingers, but of course he had to embarrass himself by bucking his hips. He'd been lusting after this for so long and Jean's hands felt better than Eren could have imagined they could.

Eren turned his head away and one of Jean's hands came up to forcefully turn his head back. That neediness went right to Eren's groin and he groaned, his fingers digging in harder where they rested. Their lips smacked and even such a simple thing had an effect on Eren and he felt a fresh wave of heat pass through his whole body. He gasped and paused to take a breath, but the second he caught sight of Jean's red cheeks and swollen lips, Eren was throwing himself back in again for more.

Eren's hands roamned, he touched those stupid divots on Jean's back and felt the sharp rise of his hips. He lifted a leg and let Jean hook it over one of those dumb hips, further lining up their bodies in their clumsy stance. Fingers threaded into his hair and the longer they kissed, the easier it got. Eren stopped thinking about how weird this was and just went with it, letting Jean's body and touch show him what to do. He slid his hands over Jean's shoulders and the lingering sweat should have been gross, but Eren only felt his attraction grow.

Jean rocked into him and feeling someone else's hard cock, though clothed, against his own gave Eren the biggest head high. He reeled with it and wanted more of it, even went so far as to grasp Jean's ass with a hand, his fingers spread to give him the best hold. He pulled Jean into him and moaned into Jean's mouth as the hands on him tigthened, nails digging in. He hadn't known it could feel this way, that it could feel this _good_ to have the firmness of a man against him. What had only started out as a distant craving became something much more dangerous.

"S-stupid," Eren growled out and _groaned_ when Jean easily lifted him up onto the counter.

Forgetting any reservation he could possibly have, Eren wrapped both legs around Jean's waist and drew him into the cradle of his hips. He bit at Jean's bottom lip and smirked when Jean bit him right back. It was thrilling, it was wrong, it was new, it was what Eren wanted and had been wanting.

"What is..."

Eren jolted, Jean jumped, and to Eren's extreme horror, slipped on the potato peels at his feet. Their efforts to grab onto each other were futile as Jean lost his balance and went crashing to the floor, dragging Eren down with him. Eren's legs were still wrapped around him, so he was on top straddling him after they fell. Levi looked down on them with a flat look, his arms crossed, and Eren expected one of his feet to start tapping slowly at any moment.

"Care to explain?"

Jean opened his mouth to speak, but Eren slapped a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet, shaking his head.

"Good. Now, I'm going to turn around and count to ten. That's how many seconds you two have to get back to work and rest assured that when you're done, a suitable punishment will be in order." Without waiting for either of them to react, Levi turned around and began with, "One."

Eren flew to his feet and pulled Jean up to shove him toward the door. It was a frenzy of motion, first a lot of scrambling, then a hand grabbing Eren's shirt to tug him into a hard kiss before they parted. Eren had a potato back in his hand by the time Levi got to five and despite the imminent doom that was likely to befall him because of this, Eren was having trouble fighting back a smile. Jean ran outside and when Levi got to eight, there was a _thunk_ – a noise Eren didn't seem to mind so much this time around.

**The End**


End file.
